It feels like the world is on fire. People across continents are taking to the streets to demand an end to tyrannical regimes that rob and suppress their people. Dictators are fighting back with military might. Earthquakes are rocking an economic powerhouse. A tsunami has wiped out whole villages. A nuclear plant is on the verge of a nuclear melt down. There is so much to take in that many of us are checking out. With one eye on the newspaper and another on the news channel, I get up and go to work, plan my summer holidays, and continue my day-to-day life as if nothing is changing. But change is in the air. We can all feel it. But it is hard to know what, if anything, we can and should do about it.

I send my checks to good organizations that offer support to people living in countries affected by disasters, wars, and poverty. And I pray. But sometimes I am not even sure what to pray for. When there is so much happening in the world; so many desperate situations; so many situations that seem immutable; so many things that need to change; it can feel overwhelming and hopeless. It can be difficult to know what to pray for and how to respond.

I have taken the position in my life that we must find our issue or corner of the world and focus on it; trust that others will do the same; and trust that collectively we can all make a difference. But I really don’t know if that is the correct approach. It is simply the approach that allows me to continue working in my corner; it helps me to stay focused; it helps me to stay hopeful.

Like many other people, I have also struggled to understand what “working in my corner” looks like. Do I spend time trying to heal myself in the belief that the violence and evil on the material plane reflects the inner darkness within each of us? Or do I spend my time trying to change the material world? Or do I do a bit of each? I don’t know that there is one universal answer. Maybe the answer is different for each of us?

I have spent a lot of time in my life working for social change; advocating for regulations and standards that protect worker health; promoting programs and policies that would improve air quality or retard climate change. I have seen first hand how long it can take to make small changes on the material plane, when the changes needed are monumental.

While I continue to do this work, at some level, it is clear to me that many of the world’s problems cannot be resolved on the material plane. They are simply too big, and action is happening too slowly, to address them in time. At some level, I know, deep in my being, that the changes needed are going to happen at a spiritual level. And that gives me hope. But I still don’t know what that looks like or what that means for me. So I continue to work for change on the material plane, try to make time for meditation in my life, and seek guidance from the Universe.

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About kp

I am a woman and a mother, a sister and a wife. I have called myself a socialist and a feminist, an environmentalist and an activist, a pagan and an atheist. But, at this stage in my life, none of these labels feel right. I am searching; trying to find an inner calm; trying to make peace with life's disappointments; trying to answer the big questions in my own small life.

3 Responses to Responding to a World in Crisis

If your post does not express what we’re all feeling, I don’t know what else could. You have put into words both our sense of powerlessness and our desire to help. Beautiful post.
I guess Mar 19-21, according to astrologers anyway, will bring more difficulties as we and our planet make the shift into new consciousness.

Thank you for taking the time to express what so many of us are feeling. It can be paralyzing when so many things are happening so quickly. I think the answer, as you stated so eloquently, is different for everyone. Just so long as we all do whatever part we can, whenever we can. Hopefully that will spin things toward “better” in the long run.